Devils Look for Offense in Taylor Hall’s Absence

The scoring of Taylor Hall, skating against the Sabres’ Marcus Foligno, contributed greatly to the Devils’ surprising start this season.CreditJim McIsaac/Getty Images

By Tal Pinchevsky

Nov. 18, 2016

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Any enthusiasm generated by the surprising start to the Devils’ N.H.L. season was dulled by the announcement Wednesday that their leading scorer, Taylor Hall, would be out of the lineup for at least three weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.

Hall, the first pick in the 2010 draft, was acquired this summer in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers. He is the franchise’s most dynamic offensive weapon since Ilya Kovalchuk left the club to return to Russia in 2013. Hall owned or shared the team lead in goals, points, power-play goals, game-winning goals and shots at the time of his injury. His loss is magnified by the absence of Mike Cammalleri, who led the team with 27 goals in 2014-15 and has been out of the lineup since Nov. 8 because of a personal matter.

Hall’s injury occurred shortly before an important four-game, nine-day Western trip. The Devils, 9-4-3 after a 3-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday, are looking for ways to supplement their offense without him. But they will not stray from the system that has so far made them one of the N.H.L.’s most prominent overachievers.

“Obviously, you miss a player like that, what he brings offensively to the game,” the Devils’ captain, Andy Greene, said of Hall. “His speed and how he can back off defenses pretty much all night. But it’s happened. It’s over with. We can’t do anything about it. It’s up to the guys here. We have to make sure we play and pick up the slack.”

After struggling to score in a 2-1 overtime victory in Dallas on Tuesday, the Devils appeared to find their offense against the Ducks. But when it mattered most Thursday night, Hall’s absence was felt acutely.

“We feel like we have a lot of good players on our team — selfless guys, they work hard,” Devils Coach John Hynes said. “We feel we play a real organized game. When you have players that are committed to playing a real team game, playing to a structure and a system, a lot of times when you go through injured situations, you have guys that come in and compete.”

That system has kept the Devils competitive, but it has not made the team an offensive juggernaut. With the Devils relying on a tight-checking system that has become a team calling card, even the speedy Hall conformed to a team philosophy that favored substance over style.

Greene said the Devils are “trying to get ugly goals.”

“Just because he’s not in the lineup doesn’t change the way we play,” Greene added. “Obviously he brings a different element, but that’s part of our game plan every night.”

The Devils’ opening goal against the Ducks on Thursday exemplified how the team plans to extract offense from a roster missing its most dynamic player. After parking himself directly in front of Ducks goaltender Jonathan Bernier, Devante Smith-Pelly deflected a shot from the point by defenseman Kyle Quincey. Quincey scored a remarkably similar goal 3 minutes 37 seconds later, another shot from the point that found its way through traffic to elude Bernier.

“These days, you’ve got to get traffic,” Devils forward P. A. Parenteau said. “Goalies are so good. You’ve got to make life miserable on them. That’s the name of the game. You’ve got to do it, if your best player is out of the lineup or if he is in.”

After appearing to have found some offense, the Devils were undone by uncharacteristic defensive lapses. The defense, the league’s second stingiest, allowed two goals in 16 seconds late in the second period to give Anaheim new life.

With Hall gone, Beau Bennett was inserted in the Devils’ top line beside Travis Zajac and Parenteau. The revamped line did not account for many offensive opportunities and was on the ice for two Ducks goals, including Ryan Kesler’s game-winner with 3:40 remaining in regulation time.

“We’ve been playing well,” Zajac said. “It came down to three shifts today where we lost coverage and they capitalized.”

Trailing late, the Devils had opportunities to even the score on a power play and with a six-on-five advantage when goalie Cory Schneider was pulled. But the Devils mustered only a single shot after Kesler’s goal, a long attempt by Damon Severson that Bernier handled easily.

With Hall out, the Devils, who have not made the playoffs since reaching the Stanley Cup finals in 2012, are determined to score goals generated more by grit than by grace as they try to extend their stay among the more unexpected successes of this young season. The system worked when Hall was in the lineup, and it is one they hope will continue working now that he is gone.

“Taylor is a big part of our team, as is Mike Cammalleri,” Hynes said. “But the guys we had on the ice on the six on five, they can score. They’re really good players. To score, you have to be more consistent. You can say you hope one goes in, but we’re not in the hope business. We have to be more consistent in certain areas.”